Exploring the Leading 9 Alternatives to PagerDuty in 2023

PagerDuty stands out as a widely used Incident Management platform, aiding teams in promptly and effectively addressing alerts and incidents. Nevertheless, its pricing model may pose challenges for growing businesses and Incident Response teams due to its complexity and potential expense. This article aims to evaluate and compare the leading nine alternatives to PagerDuty in 2023, assisting you in selecting the most suitable option for your requirements.

Challenges with PagerDuty Pricing ‍

PagerDuty's pricing initiates at $21/user/month, but this entry-level plan lacks many essential functionalities. To access a plan encompassing basic Incident Management features, the cost can escalate significantly, reaching over $41/user/month. Notably, features such as Runbook Automation, Stakeholder License, Status Pages, and others are not included in these standard plans and are offered as expensive add-ons.

Moreover, PagerDuty imposes additional charges for customer support!

List of top Pagerduty Alternatives

• Squadcast
• Opsgenie
• xMatters
• Moogsoft
• Alertops
• Bigpanda
• Splunk On-Call (VictorOps)
• Firehydrant
• Better uptime

‍Squadcast (Free and Paid) ‍

Let's kick off our exploration of alternatives with Squadcast.

Squadcast stands out as an excellent substitute for PagerDuty, seamlessly integrating On-Call, Incident Response, and Reliability Workflows – the essential components of a strong Incident Management system – into a unified platform. With competitive pricing, Squadcast offers a 14-day free trial, allowing you to explore its full range of features, from advanced automations to comprehensive Workflows!

Below are some features of Squadcast

Managing On-Call responsibilities through adaptable Schedules, Escalation Policies, Smart Alert Routing, and notifications across multiple channels.

Incident Response capabilities with incorporated communication channels, user-friendly Runbooks, customizable APIs, and Webhooks.

Implementation of Workflows for automating incident-related tasks and facilitating swift resolution.

In-depth Reliability metrics and tracking of Service Level Objectives (SLOs) at an advanced level.

Inclusion of both Private and Public Status Pages within the system.

Squadcast Pricing:

Squadcast offers a transparent pricing structure along with a free plan for up to 5 users. Paid plans start at $9/month/user for your On-Call needs and go up to $21/user/month for their Enterprise plan, the top tier that includes all advanced features as well.

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Opsgenie (Free and Paid)

Opsgenie, established in 2012 and later acquired by Atlassian in 2018, holds a significant position among Incident Management platforms. However, since its acquisition in 2019, the product has experienced a lack of updates and has received subpar support and reliability from the Atlassian team. Some reported instances even indicate prolonged downtime exceeding two weeks. Despite these challenges, Opsgenie remains a viable alternative to PagerDuty, offering a centralized platform for efficiently managing alerts, escalations, on-call schedules, and communications at a reasonable cost.

Here are key features of Opsgenie:

• Alert Routing: Ensures alerts are directed to the appropriate team members, preventing the oversight of critical notifications.
• Schedule Management: Equips users with tools for effective on-call schedule management, ensuring prompt notification of the right individuals during incidents.
• Reporting: Provides robust reporting tools to identify trends and enhance incident response processes.

Pricing Options for Opsgenie

Opsgenie presents a range of pricing plans tailored to accommodate businesses of various sizes. The Free plan caters to the needs of small businesses with up to 5 users. For those requiring more advanced alerting and on-call management features, the Essentials plan, priced at $9 per user per month, is a suitable option. Larger businesses seeking even more comprehensive features and support can consider the Standard plan at $19 per user per month or the Enterprise plan at $29 per user per month.

xMatters (Free and Paid)

xMatters stands as an Incident Management platform that offers a reasonable set of features at a slightly more budget-friendly price compared to PagerDuty. While it may not boast the most advanced or feature-rich solution on the market, xMatters provides a sturdy foundation for efficiently managing alerts, escalations, on-call schedules, and communications. For organizations in search of a reliable, albeit somewhat basic, alternative to PagerDuty, xMatters presents itself as a viable option.

‍Here are key features of xMatters:

• Automated Incident Management: Efficiently handles issues through automated processes.
• On-Call Scheduling and Alerting: Ensures timely issue resolution by managing on-call schedules and alerting.
• Workflow Automation: Streamlines tasks and facilitates proactive issue resolution through automated workflows.

xMatters Pricing 

xMatters offers a variety of pricing plans to suit the needs of businesses of all sizes. The company's most basic plan is free to use. Paid plans start at $9/month/user and the plan that covers some advanced Incident Management functions costs $39/user/month. However, when it comes to large-scale deployments the pricing model is not transparent.

Moogsoft (Paid)

Moogsoft, an AIOps platform established in 2011 and acquired by Dell in August 2023, presents a suite of features for effective IT operations management. Its capability to seamlessly integrate with diverse monitoring tools, coupled with its machine learning algorithms, positions it as a compelling alternative to PagerDuty for proactive incident identification and resolution. Despite occasional reports of stability issues and limited customization options, Moogsoft remains a robust choice for teams in search of a comprehensive AIOps solution.

‍Here are key features of Moogsoft:

• Incident Detection: Utilizes anomaly detection and machine learning algorithms for real-time incident identification.
• Root Cause Identification: Employs advanced correlation and ML-based auto-classification for swift incident root cause analysis.
• Automated Incident Response: Streamlines incident management by automating tasks such as routing, initiation of remediation, and incident closure.

‍Moogsoft Pricing ‍

Moogsoft adopts an opaque pricing model, requiring interested parties to reach out to the team for a custom quote based on their specific requirements. Pricing factors include the number of users, applications being tested, and the desired level of support.

AlertOps (Free and Paid)

AlertOps, an established Incident Management platform founded in 2014, delivers a spectrum of features for the efficient management of alerts, escalations, on-call schedules, and communications. Positioned as a practical alternative to PagerDuty, especially for organizations in search of a more budget-friendly solution. It's worth noting that some users have observed that AlertOps might be less user-friendly compared to PagerDuty, and its reporting capabilities are perceived to be less robust.

Features of AlertOps ‍

Here are key features of AlertOps:

• On-Call Scheduling: Utilizes a scheduling tool for the seamless assignment of on-call responsibilities.
• Call Routing: Effectively routes inbound calls to the appropriate on-call personnel.
• Workflow Automation: Offers automation capabilities to streamline incident response processes.

AlertOps Pricing ‍

AlertOps presents four pricing plans: Starter (Free), Standard ($5/user/month), Premium ($15/user/month), and Enterprise ($23/user/month). Each plan is tailored with distinct features, including easy on-call scheduling, enriched alerts, and advanced incident response automation.

BigPanda (Paid)

BigPanda stands out as a prominent AIOps event correlation and automation platform, recognized for its innovative approach to Incident Management. Established in 2012, BigPanda swiftly secured market share by assisting organizations in preventing and resolving outages before they impact customers. However, recent criticisms have surfaced regarding BigPanda's perceived lack of emphasis on customer support and its elevated price tag. Despite these concerns, BigPanda remains a robust alternative to PagerDuty.

Here are key features of BigPanda:

• Event Correlation: Utilizes event correlation capabilities to enable IT operations teams to identify incidents early, potentially preventing outages.
• Root Cause Analysis: Provides tools for swiftly identifying the source of incidents, facilitating faster resolution.
• Automated Incident Response: Automates specific incident response tasks, streamlining the overall process.

BigPanda Pricing ‍

BigPanda adopts a SaaS-based pricing model with different tiers based on the number of nodes monitored. However, pricing transparency is limited, as BigPanda offers custom quotes based on individual customer requirements, which have been reported to be on the higher side.

Splunk On-Call | Formerly VictorOps (Free and Paid)

VictorOps, a well-established incident management platform founded in 2012, joined forces with Splunk in 2018, becoming Splunk On-Call. While it may not boast the same level of recognition as PagerDuty, VictorOps, now Splunk On-Call, delivers a comprehensive solution for efficiently managing alerts, escalations, on-call schedules, and communications, all at a competitive price point. Its robust features position it as a formidable player in the incident management domain.

Here are key features of Splunk On-Call:

• Streamlined On-Call Management: Automates On-Call scheduling and escalation policies, alleviating the administrative burden.
• Data-Driven Insights: Offers detailed reporting and analytics to identify trends, optimize incident response, and minimize alert noise.
• Automated Workflows: Automates time-sensitive actions, such as escalations and war room notifications, ensuring prompt incident handling.

‍Splunk On-Call Pricing ‍

Splunk On-Call follows a SaaS-based pricing model, but the pricing lacks transparency and varies based on specific requirements.

FireHydrant (Free and Paid)

FireHydrant emerges as a contemporary Incident Management platform that has swiftly gained favor among engineering teams. Established in 2016, FireHydrant has earned acclaim for its user-friendly interface, robust features, and dependable performance. While facing criticism for limited customization options, FireHydrant remains a compelling alternative to PagerDuty.

Here are key features of FireHydrant:

• Incident Analytics Dashboard: Offers a comprehensive overview of incidents.
• Event Tracking: Automatically tracks incident events, creating an accurate timeline.
• Service Catalog: Serves as a centralized repository for service information, breaking down knowledge silos.

‍FireHydrant Pricing ‍

FireHydrant provides a free plan and two paid plans: Pro ($500/month) for 20 users and Enterprise (Custom). The Free plan includes basic incident management features such as alerting and notifications, event correlation and analysis, and root cause analysis. The Pro plan extends to additional features, including incident management and response automation, ChatOps integrations, and enterprise support.

Uptime | Formerly Better Uptime (Free and Paid)

Better Uptime, founded in 2021 and now known as Uptime, is a relatively recent entrant in the uptime monitoring and Incident Management domain. It has gained recognition for its user-friendly interface and competitive pricing. While offering a comprehensive suite of monitoring and management tools, it is particularly well-suited for smaller teams and is still in the process of establishing a long-standing track record compared to more established players like PagerDuty.

‍Here are key features of Uptime:

• On-Call Schedule Calendar: Enables configuration of the team's on-call duty rotations.
• Flexible Incident Escalations: Allows customization of notification recipients based on incident parameters.
• Incident Audit Timeline: Provides a second-by-second overview of incident progression.

‍Better Uptime Pricing ‍

Uptime offers a variety of website monitoring plans catering to different needs and budgets. They provide a free plan and three paid plans, with pricing starting at $25 per month and going up to $170 per month/team.

Choosing the Right Alternative to PagerDuty

If you find yourself exploring alternatives to PagerDuty, it may be driven by concerns such as high costs or inadequate support. In such cases, addressing issues related to transparent pricing and robust support becomes a priority.

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Given the critical nature of On-Call and incident management for ensuring infrastructure reliability, selecting the right setup is paramount. The aforementioned PagerDuty alternatives offer a range of options to meet your specific needs. Each presents unique capabilities and pricing structures. However, if you're seeking a seamless replacement for PagerDuty, characterized by excellent support, an intuitive interface, and competitive pricing, Squadcast stands out as an exceptional choice.

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Getting Started with Squadcast ‍ Initiating your journey with Squadcast is straightforward. Simply sign up for the 14-day free trial to explore the platform. For those transitioning from PagerDuty, Squadcast offers a PagerDuty migrator tool, facilitating the migration of all configurations from your existing PagerDuty account.

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Wishing you success in your quest to find the ideal PagerDuty alternative!